I''ve learned a lot about diamonds on PS, but wanted to go see some settings as well as take a look at some real stones for reference.
I''m looking for either a vintage setting or a new setting with a vintage look for an e-ring. These are places that were recommended. Thought I''d share my experiences so far, as the posts of others here have really helped me out.
23rd Street Jewelers - Santa Monica
Some really beautiful stuff, but quite pricey. A LOT of rings. And while many of the rings had a vintage look, they weren''t the "right kind" of vintage I''m looking for (lots and lots of round halos and pave). The craftsmanship on some of their custom pieces is extraordinary, and the cost is high. A small place that got pretty busy while I was there. Has an elite vibe that I wasn''t completely comfortable with, but that''s just me (though there were some pretty stunning looking celebrity women shopping there!). Service was fine; got much better when I expressed interest in a $10K setting. (Imagine that!) But if you are looking for high end, top notch quality, I would highly recommend checking out their work.
Montana Ave. Jewelry - Santa Monica
All estate pieces. Some really nice stuff that seemed reasonably priced, especially given the upscale neighborhood that it is in. The owners were very nice and were willing to spend time and answer questions on any piece. They do custom work as well. They also have some vintage settings without stones, which was cool. Definitely worth checking out.
Wanna Buy A Watch? - West Hollywood
Great selection of vintage rings as well as "new vintage" settings. Most everything in the store is also listed on their website, which is really nice when you get home and are trying to remember exactly what you looked at. Prices seem on the high side, but again, they are in a pretty high-rent district. Service was really great - no pressure at all. The woman seemed to really enjoy looking at all the rings and pulling various ones out that I wouldn''t have picked from the case. This is where B&M shopping really has an edge over the internet. It is also hard to avoid looking at the TONS of beautiful watches that they have - their specialty, of course. I could easily see myself walking out of there with a beautiful vintage Rolex for myself and a smaller budget for her e-ring (just kidding!) Some amazing pieces. Saw a couple of possibilities here. A really enjoyable experience.
Servis and Taylor - West L.A.
I never would have found this place, but I had seen some Beverly K settings online and called them to find a retailer in my area and this was where the referred me. It''s in a mall (god forbid, PS-ers!) - even before PS, I never would have imagined going to a mall store. This place is an real find! The store has been there for over 25 years with the same two owners. It''s a fairly unassuming place, but there are some amazing pieces inside. I checked out the Beverly K settings - they had a lot of them. Again, it is really interesting to see the differences in perception of how they look online vs. in person. Pretty much convinced me that I HAVE to see a setting in person before buying it, or the online vendor MUST have a great return policy. I work in a creative field and am a very visual person with a great capacity to imagine things presented in 2D, but there is no substitute for seeing the real thing!
Michael Taylor was the gentleman who helped me, and he couldn''t have been more low key, patient, and informative. He showed me some custom pieces they do, and the work was as good as anything I''ve seen (right up there with the 23rd St. Jewelers work, but considerably less priced.) He showed me a ring they made based on a vintage design and it was remarkable in its workmanship. All hand fabricated - no casting. They also work in palladium, so that''s another option to save some money (also nice to have a local jeweler who works in palladium to repair it, as that would be one objection to getting palladium instead of platinum). Again, absolutely no pressure. In fact, he encouraged me to look around at other custom work and compare the workmanship and cost. They sell AGS certed stones as well as Canadian conflict-free diamonds (didn''t learn much about those as I was more interested in the settings). They claim to match any advertised price for an equal diamond, so it would be interesting to pull up an AGS000 from a PS vendor and see how that plays out.
Basically, this place strikes me as a Beverly Hills quality place in a less expensive location. It''s by no means a bargain bin (he showed me a pair of $75K earrings they had made that were waiting to be picked up -- STUNNING), but it''s a high quality jeweler with lots of beautiful pieces at very reasonable prices for a B&M retailer.
For custom work, it really seems to come down to the one or two guys that an individual store works with. I have background in metal arts and I can tell you that it is evident right away whether you are looking at the work of a merely competent metalsmith or a real artist with extraordinary skills.
So, very high recommendation to Servis and Taylor. There is one very distinct possibility here, and one more affordable one (yes, like most of you, I''m a sucker for high quality, beautiful work and am tempted out of my price range!)
Bracken Jewelers
They used to be on the Third St. Promenade in Santa Monica. I purchased a number of estate items from them over the years. But they recently closed that shop after 20+ years there and have opened a private studio in Venice, CA - by appointment only. I haven''t had a chance to get over there, but Todd Bracken is a very talented jeweler and artist worth checking out. He actually pans his own gold in the northern Sierras and uses it to make gold rings in an antique style. Very honest and reputable. I''ll report back when I get a chance to visit his new studio and see what he''s up to.
The one obvious place I have yet to visit for a vintage setting is Single Stone. I know lots of PS-ers rave about Ari and his collection of stones and settings and complete rings. He''s next on my list. Regardless of where I get my setting, I may go to him for an OEC. Though Michael from Servis and Taylor mentioned that they share some of the same sources for old stones with Ari. So maybe they are an alternative for the stone as well.
Conclusions
I must say that my experiences were generally better than I expected. Customer service is quickly becoming a lost art, but most of these vendors were quite good in that department. It''s harder to compare apples with apples when purchasing vintage, so pricing is hard to judge, unless it''s really obvious (23rd St. = expensive, Servis and Taylor = very fair and reasonable) - but old stones are much harder because the grading isn''t as black and white as HCA numbers and AGS/GIA reports, etc. (though I learned the hard way that even those aren''t always fail safe - see my other thread on diamond transparency issue).
I''m thinking about going the custom route, so I''ll share my experiences with you if I do. I still will check with Leon Mege for a quote once I have a design nailed down, as I know lots of you are nuts about his work and it would be silly for me not to at least get a quote before proceeding.
I''ll keep you updated on my quest. Until next time....
Baxter
I''m looking for either a vintage setting or a new setting with a vintage look for an e-ring. These are places that were recommended. Thought I''d share my experiences so far, as the posts of others here have really helped me out.
23rd Street Jewelers - Santa Monica
Some really beautiful stuff, but quite pricey. A LOT of rings. And while many of the rings had a vintage look, they weren''t the "right kind" of vintage I''m looking for (lots and lots of round halos and pave). The craftsmanship on some of their custom pieces is extraordinary, and the cost is high. A small place that got pretty busy while I was there. Has an elite vibe that I wasn''t completely comfortable with, but that''s just me (though there were some pretty stunning looking celebrity women shopping there!). Service was fine; got much better when I expressed interest in a $10K setting. (Imagine that!) But if you are looking for high end, top notch quality, I would highly recommend checking out their work.
Montana Ave. Jewelry - Santa Monica
All estate pieces. Some really nice stuff that seemed reasonably priced, especially given the upscale neighborhood that it is in. The owners were very nice and were willing to spend time and answer questions on any piece. They do custom work as well. They also have some vintage settings without stones, which was cool. Definitely worth checking out.
Wanna Buy A Watch? - West Hollywood
Great selection of vintage rings as well as "new vintage" settings. Most everything in the store is also listed on their website, which is really nice when you get home and are trying to remember exactly what you looked at. Prices seem on the high side, but again, they are in a pretty high-rent district. Service was really great - no pressure at all. The woman seemed to really enjoy looking at all the rings and pulling various ones out that I wouldn''t have picked from the case. This is where B&M shopping really has an edge over the internet. It is also hard to avoid looking at the TONS of beautiful watches that they have - their specialty, of course. I could easily see myself walking out of there with a beautiful vintage Rolex for myself and a smaller budget for her e-ring (just kidding!) Some amazing pieces. Saw a couple of possibilities here. A really enjoyable experience.
Servis and Taylor - West L.A.
I never would have found this place, but I had seen some Beverly K settings online and called them to find a retailer in my area and this was where the referred me. It''s in a mall (god forbid, PS-ers!) - even before PS, I never would have imagined going to a mall store. This place is an real find! The store has been there for over 25 years with the same two owners. It''s a fairly unassuming place, but there are some amazing pieces inside. I checked out the Beverly K settings - they had a lot of them. Again, it is really interesting to see the differences in perception of how they look online vs. in person. Pretty much convinced me that I HAVE to see a setting in person before buying it, or the online vendor MUST have a great return policy. I work in a creative field and am a very visual person with a great capacity to imagine things presented in 2D, but there is no substitute for seeing the real thing!
Michael Taylor was the gentleman who helped me, and he couldn''t have been more low key, patient, and informative. He showed me some custom pieces they do, and the work was as good as anything I''ve seen (right up there with the 23rd St. Jewelers work, but considerably less priced.) He showed me a ring they made based on a vintage design and it was remarkable in its workmanship. All hand fabricated - no casting. They also work in palladium, so that''s another option to save some money (also nice to have a local jeweler who works in palladium to repair it, as that would be one objection to getting palladium instead of platinum). Again, absolutely no pressure. In fact, he encouraged me to look around at other custom work and compare the workmanship and cost. They sell AGS certed stones as well as Canadian conflict-free diamonds (didn''t learn much about those as I was more interested in the settings). They claim to match any advertised price for an equal diamond, so it would be interesting to pull up an AGS000 from a PS vendor and see how that plays out.
Basically, this place strikes me as a Beverly Hills quality place in a less expensive location. It''s by no means a bargain bin (he showed me a pair of $75K earrings they had made that were waiting to be picked up -- STUNNING), but it''s a high quality jeweler with lots of beautiful pieces at very reasonable prices for a B&M retailer.
For custom work, it really seems to come down to the one or two guys that an individual store works with. I have background in metal arts and I can tell you that it is evident right away whether you are looking at the work of a merely competent metalsmith or a real artist with extraordinary skills.
So, very high recommendation to Servis and Taylor. There is one very distinct possibility here, and one more affordable one (yes, like most of you, I''m a sucker for high quality, beautiful work and am tempted out of my price range!)
Bracken Jewelers
They used to be on the Third St. Promenade in Santa Monica. I purchased a number of estate items from them over the years. But they recently closed that shop after 20+ years there and have opened a private studio in Venice, CA - by appointment only. I haven''t had a chance to get over there, but Todd Bracken is a very talented jeweler and artist worth checking out. He actually pans his own gold in the northern Sierras and uses it to make gold rings in an antique style. Very honest and reputable. I''ll report back when I get a chance to visit his new studio and see what he''s up to.
The one obvious place I have yet to visit for a vintage setting is Single Stone. I know lots of PS-ers rave about Ari and his collection of stones and settings and complete rings. He''s next on my list. Regardless of where I get my setting, I may go to him for an OEC. Though Michael from Servis and Taylor mentioned that they share some of the same sources for old stones with Ari. So maybe they are an alternative for the stone as well.
Conclusions
I must say that my experiences were generally better than I expected. Customer service is quickly becoming a lost art, but most of these vendors were quite good in that department. It''s harder to compare apples with apples when purchasing vintage, so pricing is hard to judge, unless it''s really obvious (23rd St. = expensive, Servis and Taylor = very fair and reasonable) - but old stones are much harder because the grading isn''t as black and white as HCA numbers and AGS/GIA reports, etc. (though I learned the hard way that even those aren''t always fail safe - see my other thread on diamond transparency issue).
I''m thinking about going the custom route, so I''ll share my experiences with you if I do. I still will check with Leon Mege for a quote once I have a design nailed down, as I know lots of you are nuts about his work and it would be silly for me not to at least get a quote before proceeding.
I''ll keep you updated on my quest. Until next time....
Baxter
It''s wonderful and your write-ups are very precise/informative.
300x240.png)